Fenty Details Proposal To Take Over Schools

Reaction in the community was mixed. Gina Arlotto, a Capitol Hill mother and co-founder of Save Our Schools, said she would rally opposition because she favors an elected school board and worries that the new structure would disrupt progress Janey has made.

"Put it to the people, Fenty. Let the people vote on it," said Arlotto, who is organizing a protest for tomorrow outside the Washington Convention Center before Fenty's inaugural ball. "If the majority of people say, 'We want Fenty to take over schools,' I wouldn't agree with it, but that's the will of the people."

But Marika Torok, a Mount Pleasant mother who brought her two young children to Fenty's briefing, reacted positively to his bill.

"I'm impressed that he has said education will be his number one priority, and he's following through on that, not even wasting a day," said Torok, who teaches her children at home and thinks they would not get a good education in the D.C. school system. "He's showing he's serious. This is the first step, getting a functional structure in place."

For most of his two-year campaign for mayor, Fenty, whose twin sons attend a private elementary school, did not discuss taking over the system. As a council member in 2004, Fenty joined in defeating a similar measure offered by then-mayor Anthony A. Williams.

Shortly after winning the Democratic primary in September, however, Fenty said he was studying the takeover model established four years ago in New York City by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R). Fenty explained his change of heart by saying he believed the District's multi-headed governance system had led to diffuse authority and a lack of accountability.

Fenty said the school system has failed time and again to improve despite decades of efforts and numerous superintendents. He said Janey would be able to move more quickly under the new structure to implement changes detailed in the system's Master Education Plan.

"Janey has a lot of great ideas, and his vision makes sense," Fenty said. "This will give him the power to move faster." Janey declined yesterday to comment on the plan.

But Fenty's proposal has raised questions about whether it would lead to more streamlined school governance.

"It's not clear to me whether the lines of accountability, authority and program decision-making are any clearer than they were before -- and could they, in fact, be fuzzier?" said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools. "One has to worry whether the alignment is as clear-cut as they want it to be."